Introduction
While many academics debate ethical topics such as anthropological research, the modern day tribal members face more pressing issues, many of them economic. An important component of modern first peoples economic rights include the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which Congress enacted in order to control the way in which the National Indian Gaming Commission conducts business. Even though the Oneida of the twentieth and twenty-first century are separated from their relatives in central New York, Iroquois and others, the Oneida are included in discussions about gaming and economics with these and others who are connected to the nations of the Iroquois. Other Iroquois relatives include the Cayugas, Onondagas, Mohawks, Senecas, and Tuscaroras. Wisconsin First Nations and Euro-Americans have long been involved in cultural and ethical negotiations that have changed over time yet still maintain a kind of continuity. The contemporary ethical issues of Wisconsin First Nations cannot be separated from the history of indigenous peoples in general. However, there have been major efforts made toward defining ethical concepts in both historic contexts as well as making them relevant to modern times. There are many challenges associated with establishing modern ethical standards as they relate to tribal people. The current culture of the indigenous peoples of the Wisconsin region is inextricably linked to their histories. These first peoples worked hard in the face of overwhelming opposition and pressure to persevere community and clan connections. Their tribal governments persevered, and even though their systems have changed per time, they continue to assert their old treaty rights, contracts, and obligations to and with the United States government. Despite imperious often hypocritical pressures from outside their first peoples, especially in the form of the federal policy of removal that marked the twentieth century, the Oneida and other Iroquois descended first peoples have steadily resisted assimilation and have constantly upheld their viewpoint that they are sovereign nations.Euro-Americans and Wisconsin First Nations In the twenty-first century, the Oneida and the other Nations of Indians of Wisconsin have maintained that they are separate régimes with the power to conduct treaty negotiations with the United States federal government just like any other autonomous régime. The relationship between the Oneida and Washington D. C dates back to the first peoples’ cooperation with American revolutionaries. Long before the Oneida and the United States federal government negotiated treaties, the indigenous tribal people in America had created a wide-ranging diplomatic network with each other as well as with early-arrived Europeans. Oneidas have always aided the cause of freedom and have lost many brave soldiers on battlefields fighting for the United States. Despite this overt loyalty to the America cause, Oneidas have often been betrayed by American government officials at the local, state, and federal level with blatant attempts to undermine the Oneida’s bids for freedom to operate as a sovereign nation. Nonetheless, as part of the mixture of cultures that comprise the original indigenous peoples of North America, the Oneida, and others have never wavered in their determination to remain sovereign.
First Nations Ethical Models The ethical models of first peoples tend to have common features across first peoples. Underlying the ethical conduct of the Oneida people are an ancient set of values that are shared by many other first peoples. To act ethically means that succeeding generations of Oneida people must acknowledge and respect the mores of their ancestors as well as adding to the community collective culture. Acting and behaving for the good of the collective Oneida first peoples is paramount to honorable behavior. When making important decisions regarding treaties, agreement is generally obtained by a consensus of the people. It is based on the idea that the entire first peoples in connected by blood and kinship and therefore should rightly share in the benefits of collective action as well as the labor of decision-making. Kinship and by extension clan relations are vital to the identity of the Oneida people as it influences every facet of their socio-political polices, spiritual guidance, and the economic security of their community. The ethical model adhered to by the Oneida and most first peoples of the Americas is tied to kinship. Iroquois and their decedents maintained a common culture based on blood ties in spite of being forced onto reservations and remaining on reservations during the twentieth century. The Oneida reservation itself was threatened many times as the town of Milwaukee grew and more Euro-Americans pushed to settle there. Despite having their very existence in Wisconsin endangered at times, the Oneida first peoples resisted not only assimilation but also white efforts to create a Pan-Indian indemnity by forcibly merging multiple first peoples together. Euro-American Ethical Models
Today, many of the concerns over anthropological research and economic campaigns still dominate the models proposed for good relationships between whites and first nations. First Peoples Worldwide was conceived in and for ethical relationships in the United States (www.firstpeople.org). The aim of the organization is to support tribal people’s right to self-determination. A core concept in this model is that as far as economics are concerned, Euro-American companies must respect the sovereignty of indigenous peoples’ nations. Interestingly, much of the ethical legal codes in this organization are based on international treaties and laws. The ethical models of the many European people coming to the United States over the centuries have been diverse. Mostly they were based on Christian doctrines that considered first peoples heathens, possibly savable, possibly not. Because there were so many overtly unethical campaigns waged by whites against the indigenous peoples of the Americas beginning in the eighteen century and continuing well into the twentieth century, ethical models have changed dramatically. Removed to Wisconsin The Oneida people are considered natives of the region now known as Wisconsin. They are native peoples descended from indigenous tribal people who were related to the Iroquois. As relatives of the Iroquois, the ancestors of the modern Oneida first peoples have always been active between New York and Wisconsin. This includes joining together in issues about freedom to open casinos. Even though the Oneida were pushed into the Wisconsin region by white settlers, they still lay claim to their New York roots.
New Americans and First Peoples According to the articles in the book First Peoples, the natives of America have constantly occupied a shifting and uncomfortable place within the larger Euro-American society (Calloway p. 255-256). Because policy has been so blurred it has become increasingly evident, especially based on the still rampant land speculation that occurs concerning Indian Country, that first peoples must guard their right to own land and casinos collectively even though this presents a problem to business-minded American whites (Calloway p. 311). By the 1930s, the Oneidas’ in Wisconsin forfeited approximately sixty-five thousand acres of land and were threatened with cultural identity bankruptcy. Because large tracts of land had being taken out of the hands of the first peoples and put under the ownership of individuals, it has continued to be problematic. Unscrupulous whites then bought or took outright land away from the Oneidas via land deeds. There was even an outright attack was waged by Christian organizations and the government against the Oneida identity in the form of Indian Industrial Schools, specifically the Oneida Boarding School in Oneida, Wisconsin. An example of this attitude is found in “Kill the Indian, and Save the Man” is a statement by adamant reformer Captain Richard Pratt explained the vital importance of educating first peoples’ children to be like whites (Calloway p. 379). These schools popped up and were manned at an alarming rate as Christian-oriented progressive movements mounted across the United States. The modern Oneida were converted to craft-makers by New York philanthropists such as Sybil Carter, whose influence over the Wisconsin Oneidas was a way to force them to be useful and earn income under white supervision. Making crafts and especially lave by Oneidas was an on-going business enterprise that lasted into the 1950s. Soon after the craft and lace ideas came an idea from the local government in 1903 to divide the Oneida reservation in half. The division of local Oneida nationals created Oneida in Outagamie County and Hobart in Brown County. At the same time that this division was taking place, energetic Euro-American Christians ordained Chief Cornelius Hill as into the Episcopal priesthood. After Hill’s death, the Oneidas retrenched and large-scale efforts by the United States federal government to pay off their treaty obligations to the Oneida at a discounted rate failed. In 1911, the federal government was still in a stalemate with the first peoples over the issue.World War I and World War II and First Peoples As Americans began to mobilize for World War I. Many hundred Oneida men from Wisconsin joined the United States military. At the same time, President Woodrow Wilson and members of Congress forced the issue of treaty negotiations with the first peoples under the auspice of competency hearings. Over the first peoples’ objections, the United States government unilaterally concerted the Oneida treaties into patents. Contradictory actions and debates about ethics took place in the United States in the 1920s. Congress passed an Indian Citizenship Act in 1924 (Calloway p. 445). That same year, the Bureau of Indian Affairs sold the Oneida Boarding School to a land investment company working for the Catholic Archdiocese of Green Bay Wisconsin. Despite Oneida outrage at the proposed sale of the school, the deal went through. In the late 1920s and 1930s. The Oneida first peoples took their land grievances to court in case likes Deere v. St. Lawrence Power, but their claims were dismissed. The Oneidas continued to agitate for change and redress, adopting the Indian Reorganization Act constitution then using their newly incorporated powers to buy back their own land. During the build up to World War II, the Works Project Administration sent representatives to Wisconsin to document Oneida language, culture, and folklore. While Oneida men served in the Armed Forces during the war, the Bureau of Indian Affairs worked on termination policies around the United States, the Oneida Nation of Indians of Wisconsin was among the first peoples listed for termination. Termination laws were another federal effort to force indigenous nationals to assimilate into the mainstream Euro-American culture and society. It was an all-out effort by politicians and government officials to destroy the sovereignty of first peoples' nations. Those officials let loose the federal IRS on individual native people in an effort to force them to United States taxpayers. Ethical Violations and Broken Treaties The Indian Claims Commission Act of 1946 was established to hear tribal grievances and treaty claims as a sort of last chance scenario. If the first peoples did not file a treaty claim with five-years, they were basically out of luck. In 1953, after the expiration the deadline to file claims, Congress passed House Concurrent Resolution 108, which essentially formalized what the government had been doing to first peoples for years. It abruptly terminated any program that had been put in place to help first peoples and first peoples. All first peoples were declared regular United States citizens as if that was some great gift to them. At the same time, special funding and welfare-oriented programs especially designed for first peoples ceased. The next year, approximately 3,600 people in the Oneida nation in Wisconsin were terminated. Solutions and Resolution In reviewing this material it is apparent that first peoples must take charge of their own education and ensure that it continues to become better every year. This is in keeping with the Oneida ethical model, which includes building on previous generations and improving conditions for future generations. Sports Mascots Objecting to the use of the first peoples names and images as sports mascots. First peoples must closely screen the modern culture of sports so that it continues to increase income for first people but does not hurt first people or bring undesirable notice to the first peoples communities. As a way to resolve and rectify the wrongs done to first peoples and on a wave of civil rights sentiment in the 1960s, the Department of the Interior issued a notice that it was awarding thirty-eight million dollars to the first peoples, which by then was called the Oneidas, Stockbridge-Munsee, and Brotherton Indians of Wisconsin. Gambling Laws
Wisconsin gambling laws at his time favor the Oneida as far as casinos are concerned and the first peoples government must constantly guard against infringement of their rights. Many kinds of gambling are illegal in Wisconsin, although they do permit dog races and casinos on riverboats. Overtures such as those about casinos go back to attempts by whites to make amends continued in the 1970s (Calloway p. 505). Ironically, back in 1948, people were already discussing gambling on Indian Reservations when while other Euro-Americans were acting like termination was the best policy in regards to its broken treaties with first peoples, other European communities were working to create the United Nations Universal Human Rights Declaration (http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr). In Paris France, this group declared that there should be mutual agreement by all first peoples and other people around the world about ethical standards and human rights. While people from the United States were part of this movement, the majority of whites in power in America continued to undermine first peoples as individuals and collectively. Education Oneidia need to actively participate in programs such as the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) of 1990. This means having input at museums about what in their inventory could be related to first peoples, their remains, and anything to do with funerals. First peoples has worked to reclaim hundreds of thousands of objects including human skeletons. In Wisconsin the special Act numbered 31 makes it mandatory that K-12 schools teach about first peoples culture and history. This is specific to the Great Lakes region and includes the Oneida from New New York to Wisconson. It is important that funds from gambling are channeled into First Peoples Colleges designed specifically for first peoples. These colleges should be near or even on reservations and should be regularly accredited. At this time there are too gew First Peoples Colleges, only approximately thrity exist.
Conclusion As one of the first peoples in America, the Oneida stand firm on their determination not to allow the use of first peoples names and images in disparaging, detrimental, or stereotypical ways. This includes objecting to the use of the first peoples names and images as sports mascots. First peoples must also closely monitor the modern culture of gaming, so that it continues to increase revenue for the good of the people but does not injure first people or their children in any way or bring negative attention to the first peoples communities.
Works Cited
Calloway, Colin G. First Peoples: A Documentary Survey of American Indian History. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2015. Print.
Deere v. St. Lawrence River Power Co., 32 F.2d 550 (2d Cir. 1929). Internet resource. http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/32/550/1549947/
First Peoples Worldwide: An Indigenous Led Organization. Internet resource. www.firstpeoples.org/
Oneida Treaties and Treaty Rights. Internet resource. https://www.mpm.edu/wirp/ICW-106.html
United States. Public Law 100-497-Oct. 17, 1988 100th Congress Sec. 2701.Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948. Internet resource. www.un.org/en/documents/udhr
Wisconsin Code Section 945.01 et seq.; 562.001 et seq.
